tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7105844689832543332.post7396199493980366608..comments2024-03-27T11:32:34.392-07:00Comments on NOT A HOAX! NOT A DREAM!: DAREDEVIL #188Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14580725636327122073noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7105844689832543332.post-51923591858742513672021-06-01T10:11:00.941-07:002021-06-01T10:11:00.941-07:00Thanks, Blam. I think I misunderstood your commen...Thanks, Blam. I think I misunderstood your comment about Black Widow's comment, but re-reading it, I see exactly what you were saying!<br /><br />And I agree, a collected edition of just Marvel Masterworks introductions would be great. I don't buy Masterworks books because they're so expensive -- usually about the same price as an Omnibus of triple size -- but I do pick up certain digital Masterworks, and I love those intros.<br /><br />I actually read Romita's Masterworks intros in an AMAZING SPIDER-MAN OMNIBUS which includes them. He wrote intros for maybe for or five Masterworks collecting the 1960s stories he worked on, and I love them. He really gets into his recollections of working on the material and the nature of his collaboration with Stan Lee.<br /><br />Much as I love Stan, his intros are like nearly everything else he ever wrote as Marvel's pitch-man -- hype with little substance. Which is fine for Bullpen Bulletins, but less exciting for introductions to collected editions.<br /><br />(Though I realize his notoriously bad memory likely meant he didn't remember much about working on any of those old issues anyway!)Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14580725636327122073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7105844689832543332.post-41475556389500907692021-05-27T10:07:59.077-07:002021-05-27T10:07:59.077-07:00I’ve never heard that about Miss Fury. Huh. Y’know...<br>I’ve never heard that about Miss Fury. Huh. Y’know, I’d pony up cash money for a collection of introductions and supplementary text material like that, sorted by character / feature or creator. I’ve seen authors cull anthologies of such material in the past. They’d make a great line of digital books repurposing material at very little extra cost. Of course, I’d just want to go (re)read the comics under discussion then — not that I don’t already.<br /><br />And just for the record, I was trying to point out less that the Widow’s original look was no actual costume at all than that her original costume was the masked, caped one debuted in <i>Tales of Suspense</i> #64.<br /><br>Blamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07342343767763035991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7105844689832543332.post-48226300169749828642021-05-25T08:23:15.819-07:002021-05-25T08:23:15.819-07:00Good point, Blam -- thanks! I did know that Black ...Good point, Blam -- thanks! I did know that Black Widow had no costume originally, but I must've forgotten when I wrote this post.<br /><br />I did recently learn, however, that John Romita gave her the black catsuit as a compromise with Stan Lee. Apparently Romita was a fan of Miss Fury and wanted to do a series starring her at Marvel (I don't know if Marvel somehow owned the rights at the time or what), but Stan didn't think it would sell, so they turned Black Widow into a Miss Fury knockoff instead! Romita talks about it in the introduction to one of the AMAZING SPIDER-MAN Marvel Masterworks.<br /><br />(I must say, I love reading Romita's recollections and reminiscences about working on Spider-Man. He doesn't seem to get a lot of credit for the extent to which he guided Spidey during his time on the title, I suppose because he didn't have co-plotter credit like Steve Ditko -- but he actually plotted the series with Stan even during the spells where he was too busy to draw it -- and frequently he was basically the sole plotter on the issues he did draw, where he and Stan would simply come up with the month's villain and Romita would do the rest.)Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14580725636327122073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7105844689832543332.post-2277907153929498052021-05-25T06:32:10.115-07:002021-05-25T06:32:10.115-07:00Skipped this issue’s post for some reason…
// I ...<br>Skipped this issue’s post for some reason… <br /><br /><i>// I think it's far inferior to her original look. The long red hair and black catsuit are so much more visually distinctive than her short cut and gray outfit. //</i><br /><br />While I'm 100% with you on that second part, I have to correct your reference to the catsuit as her original look. She initially had no costume at all but rather elegant clothes with, befitting her codename, a veil; once she did it was a gray and then blue (for black, probably) mask, cape, bustier, fishnets, gloves, and boots. I first encountered the infamous catsuit via the Fireside book <i>The Superhero Women</i> and her earlier costume either via flashback in that book or around the same time in <i>Marvel Triple Action</i> reprints of <i>Avengers</i>.<br /><br /><i>// I don't have mixed feelings, however, about Stick’s revelation that the radiation was not responsible for Matt’s hypersenses. I'll say now what I said when he made the same claim about the radar sense: this really makes Daredevil a lot less special in my mind, if literally anybody could have the same abilities as him. //</i><br /><br />Yeah. Although there’s plenty of tradition in comics and pulps of normal humans acquiring effectively superhuman abilities (even if the premise is that they’re actually not) through arduous training and discipline — Iron Fist, The Shadow, Charlton’s Thunderbolt, even Doctor Strange. Most folks just don’t have the opportunity and/or determination to find a willing guide or appropriate hidden mystic locale. <br /><br>Blamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07342343767763035991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7105844689832543332.post-14799894165510668982017-08-07T09:08:37.870-07:002017-08-07T09:08:37.870-07:00I read CHAMPIONS once about ten years ago and thou...I read CHAMPIONS once about ten years ago and thought it was okay. It's a nice finite run, though, so it's something I could see myself looking at someday!Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14580725636327122073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7105844689832543332.post-82714887202447311162017-08-04T11:37:30.462-07:002017-08-04T11:37:30.462-07:00Yeah, I was thinking it might be the Marvel Fanfar...Yeah, I was thinking it might be the Marvel Fanfare story-arc, but I was hoping for the Champions.<br />They're a more obscure Marvel team, and I enjoyed the book when I was hunting down back-issues about a decade ago.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7105844689832543332.post-57579595409716100612017-08-04T10:52:16.784-07:002017-08-04T10:52:16.784-07:00Not CHAMPIONS then? Damnit, I though I had caught ...Not CHAMPIONS then? Damnit, I though I had caught one ahead of the curve. Ivan's personal history had some presence in those issues where Darkstar and co come visiting.Teemunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7105844689832543332.post-2380714516504948222017-08-04T09:14:49.019-07:002017-08-04T09:14:49.019-07:00Yeah, Miller clearly seems to be running on fumes ...Yeah, Miller clearly seems to be running on fumes at this point. I think he wants to finish his Elektra story, but he also feels obligated to tie up some other loose ends in the process. He probably outstayed his welcome on DAREDEVIL by a few too many issues.<br /><br />I agree with you -- a Miller Black Widow series, or even mini-series or one-shot, would've been a lot of fun -- especially if it focused on her as a superspy rather than a superhero.Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14580725636327122073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7105844689832543332.post-58291778753317101992017-08-04T09:09:45.712-07:002017-08-04T09:09:45.712-07:00Yup, that would be it. Though I have to admit I wa...Yup, that would be it. Though I have to admit I was unaware Sawyer had been killed off prior to the FANFARE story (or at all, actually), so I don't believe there's any mention of it in the upcoming posts, even though I do delve into why those issues might have been delayed for so long.Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14580725636327122073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7105844689832543332.post-82898828272705679362017-08-03T19:39:20.000-07:002017-08-03T19:39:20.000-07:00"Be my guest, deduce away!"
That's t..."Be my guest, deduce away!"<br />That's too easy- Marvel Fanfare!<br />The reason for the lack of footnote is that the Marvel Fanfare issues with Ivan were delayed and didn't come out until 9 months after this issue. (In fact, the Marvel Fanfare issues featured Sam Sawyer and he'd been killed off nearly a year earlier in Captain America.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7105844689832543332.post-87530402510807843952017-08-03T02:52:32.352-07:002017-08-03T02:52:32.352-07:00In my opinion there's no chance in hell that M...In my opinion there's no chance in hell that Miller didn't formulate the specific wording by Natasha to exactly fit also to Elektra. In-universe, I expect Natasha to be oblivious about this though. But it's a nit wink&noddy to us readers, and adds an amount of pathos to the final page cliffhanger with DD again having a loved one dying on him.<br /><br />As for the deducting, I don't think it's such a herculean effort to work out that Black Widow hints at her previous recent appearances with Ivan's ghosts riding over to here too with her from them (and that obviously more than gels it all up as a one coherent Marvel Universe). But I'm too nice man to just go and blurt out my suspections before your official announcement.Teemunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7105844689832543332.post-33929753514165540492017-08-02T17:32:26.016-07:002017-08-02T17:32:26.016-07:00This series has made me realize that, while I kept...This series has made me realize that, while I kept reading after the sublimely funny #185, I wasn't really enjoying it as much. It felt like he'd run out of enthusiasm for the book after he pulled off the run from #167 to #181, and some of his decisions-the truth about DD's radar sense, his amazingly awful treatment of Heather, even the return of the ninja business-just felt off, as if Miller was getting bored. The only thing that really shone towards the end was the Black Widow. I'd have loved a Miller written Black Widow book back then.Jackhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00605826105741513741noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7105844689832543332.post-42107192859508105292017-08-02T13:18:19.877-07:002017-08-02T13:18:19.877-07:00Be my guest, deduce away!
Good call on the parall...Be my guest, deduce away!<br /><br />Good call on the parallel between Black Widow and Elektra. I wonder if that was intentional on Miller's part?Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14580725636327122073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7105844689832543332.post-21491407450245398592017-08-02T00:48:21.075-07:002017-08-02T00:48:21.075-07:00(However, stay tuned to this very site and we'...<i>(However, stay tuned to this very site and we'll find out what she means in another month or so!)</i><br /><br />Oh! Oh! Are we allowed to deduct from this which book will be featured next as the Miller DAREDEVIL draws to end?<br /><br />I like how Natasha thinks of the pretty picture this makes, "the red-hot femme fatale of the international set, crawling on her hands and knees and begging for help -- from a blind man" (and in the end she does just that). We of course did see exactly this happening very recently in the Elektra death scene. Teemunoreply@blogger.com